The
first time Kira kissed Momo's hair, they had been unseated members
of Aizen-taichou's - no, Aizen's division, before
Ichimaru-taichou (breaking that habit was just a tad more difficult
for him) had been named leader of the Third.

It
had been a routine mission, really. He and Momo, along with two other
recent graduates from the Academy named Suzuhara and Megumi, had been
under a dispatch by a kind fourth seat officer named Souji, not much
of a leader but incredibly loyal to Aizen. They tracked down a
particularly strong Hollow that had evaded and slaughtered individual
patrols for some time.

They
managed to find its lair successfully.

It
was to be the only thing their mission accomplished perfectly.

Souji
had been the first to die, amidst a blur of claws and teeth and
screaming that tore the night apart, blood splattering across Momo's
shihakusho. Just like that fateful training mission in the Academy
under Hisagi-senpai, the Hollow had the capacity to hide its reiatsu.

Megumi
panicked, screaming, and managed to get three steps back before her
chest was destroyed
by a massive, three pronged bone white claw that replaced her
midsection.

"There's
two!" he remembers shrieking, swinging Wabisuke from side to side,
his only truly rational thought being find
Momo.

Suzuhara
leapt to avenge Megumi. He had been an excellent swordsman, near the
top, with only truly gifted fighters like Renji able to best him. But
he only managed to scratch the mask of the Hollow twice before the
second one bit off his arm, tearing it off in a macabre spray of
crimson. Stripped of his sword arm, Suzuhara was devoured, all the
while futilely punching the masks of his murderers.

"Raise
your head Wabisuke!" Kira managed, voice at an alto high with
panic, grabbing the back of Momo's blood spattered shihakusho,
hacking off one of the claws of the second Hollow as he did so. The
unholy screech of agony assaulted his ears, and he only just managed
to kick off with shunpo to what he prayed was a safe distance.

"Aizen-taichou,"
he heard, as if the name were a prayer. He looked down at Momo's
shaking, trembling form, and was suddenly afraid she was about to
break.

And
suddenly, without a thought, Kira leaned down and pressed a kiss to
her hair (scented like, amusingly enough, peaches), and whispered,
"It's going to be okay. Trust me."

In
the next moment, Momo had Tobiume out and blazing, pink-crimson
blasts surging through the air, giving him the confidence to slash
and hack away, the two of them making a stand, however hopeless it
seemed.

And
it did turn out okay.

--

The
second time Kira kissed Momo's hair, they were no longer unseated
officers, but they also no longer had Ichimaru-taichou and
Aizen-taichou to rely on.

Technically,
he isn't supposed to be here. With the loss of three captains, the
workload has increased tremendously, especially amongst the Third,
Fifth, and Ninth Divisions- but truth be told, Kira doesn't give a
Hollow's ass about what he's technically
supposed to be doing right now.

Momo
shouldn't have been allowed out of the Fourth, no matter what she
asked for.

Ukitake-taichou,
bless him, gave Kira a conspiratorial wink and a friendly grin,
motioning for him to wait outside. If Yamamato-soutaichou has noticed
him, it is obvious he has deemed it fit not to mention it and have
the Third's vice-captain unceremoniously dragged back to his
division.

He
waited with bated, anxious breath, much more than a simple meeting
should- but damn it, this is Momo. Pure, sweet, delicate Momo, who,
along with Renji, were the ones who brought something like happiness
back into his life in those lonely years after his parents died.

His
fingers twitched once, twice, as if yearning to reach for Wabisuke,
to fight some invisible foe who threatens his friends. But there are
no Hollows threatening the world right now, and he can't fight
memories, or loyalty, or love. Those aren't things a mere zanpakuto
can cut.

Suddenly,
with a hard thump the door opened, with Chojiro-fukutaichou leading a
clearly distraught-

"Momo!"
Kira was at her side in an instant, forgetting protocol and
formalities in the face of her pain. However, Chojiro-fukutaichou
seemed to understand him, and backed away quietly, letting Kira
support the emotional vice-captain of the Fifth.

"Kira-kun,"
she murmured quietly, and he felt a rush of relief that she wasn't
so distraught as not to be able to recognize him anymore.

It
has happened before.

There
is a small, healing scar on his left hand to prove it.

"It's
going to be okay," he said softly, gently brushing the nape of her
neck in a gesture that might seem reserved for lovers, but the rules
honestly don't apply here. Not for Momo.

He
brushed his lips over the tips of her hair, and sighed into the dark
locks, something he had only ever done once before.

"Trust
me."

--

The
third and last time Kira kissed Momo's hair, he was dying.

Like
the second time, he wasn't supposed to be there, but, as it
involved Momo, he didn't really have a choice to not
be there.

Letting
Momo meet Aizen alone was unthinkable. Someone else probably should
have stopped her, but unfortunately all the "someone else's"
were currently busy making a stand against the rampaging Arrancar
which were ravaging Soul Society.

The
chamber of the Central Forty-Six is spinning around him- probably
from the blood loss, he thinks idly.

Either
that, or the fact that Momo is shaking him.

Aizen
removes his zanpakuto from Kira's chest, with a mixture of
amusement and contempt swirling in his dark gold eyes. "Such a
waste, huh Gin?" he questions, passing a glance with his fellow
traitor.

Instead
of answering, Gin leans over Momo, face looming into Kira's vision,
as though he had become a giant. Giving his former subordinate a
friendly smile, he asks, "Why'd ya do that, Kira-kun? We was just
tryin' to give Momo a proper send off, and we even did it right
where it shoulda happened the first time..."

Gin
leans back, sighing, scratching the back of his head as he looked
back over at the Arrancar leader. "Ne, Aizen-taichou... can I put
'im out of his misery? Seems fittin', ya know..." there's
maybe a hint of regret in that lilting voice, even as its owner
reaches for his zanpakuto.

"No!"
Suddenly Momo is in front of him, stepping between Shinso's
deathtouch and himself.

She's
crying, he
thinks, half delirious due to the fact that there was likely more of
his blood painting the wood floor of the chamber than in his body.

His
next thought, even as Aizen says graciously, "Of course Gin", was
That's
no good.

Reaching
over, Kira took Momo into his shaking arms, drawing her close enough
to get the scent of peaches into his nose again, overwhelming the
rusty smell of his own blood, and place, reverently, a blood-stained
kiss on her hair, renewing his promise.

"It's
going to be okay."

She
looks up at him, eyes wide with fear and grief and maybe hope, and
Kira remembers exactly why he's doing this, why he's in love with
her in the first place.

He
smiles even with bloodstained lips.

"Trust
me."

And
suddenly there is a dragon's roar filling the chamber, and the
voice of an angry god to match. "HINAMORI!"

Hitsugaya-taichou
is a little late this time,
he thinks, now completely delirious from the continued blood loss.
Despite that thought, he knows that his promise will be kept.

So
Kira smiles.

And
in the next instant Shinso pierces his skull.

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